Sunday 25 April - Paris still

Yesterday I took the train to meet Cheops and she took me on a trip to the beautiful area of Versailles. It's not just a single castle and it's grounds, but a whole town and area.

Again we had the most beautiful weather, and also again, lunch was scrumptious, long and most enjoyable.

The castle itself is a monument to excess - but in it's excess it has a great beauty. The thing that stuck out most for me was the way the rooms lead one into the next and into the next, as if there is no privacy allowed - no closing off of rooms other than between the wings, in which case crossing the vast courtyard would be an option I suppose.

The entry way is grandiose, and the 307 million euro refurbishment is significantly done, replacing the gilding on the outside of the building and much of the outer statuary. It will be a wonderful legacy for France once it's complete. It's also interesting that a concerted effort has been made to re-acquire the original furniture after it was looted from the castle following the revolution. This means that the refurbishment is returning much of the interior to exactly as it was in the days of it's habitation.

All in all, a beautiful addition to the already vast historic iconography of France. The French people can be justifiably proud of it all.

One small highlight of not only this day, but also all the time so far spend in Paris, was when Cheops showed me her home and introduced me to her family. I feel a kindred with her that's going to be long-lived.

I'm becoming aware that my days here in Paris are coming to an end and tomorrow I must organise the rest of my trip. I'm already aware that I'll never make the 8 May deadline for the existing flight home, and I'll have to extend that by a bit more than a week.

The Seba Sideways concert in OL last night was like the icing on the cake of a really good day - even though it was very late by the time I hit the sack.

So a day spend figuring out dates and days, and destinations. Much consulting of the Lonely Planet oracle, and train lines and schedules. Finally got it figured out over lunch, and tomorrow morning I'll contact my Aussie travel agent and get them to change things. I've now put here on the blog, the planned itinerary.

Spent a fair bit of time in OL today too, which was lovely, doing some building on Tropicana and chatting with people I've not talked to for a while.

Tomorrow we're off to explore the wonders of the Notre Dame, and the area around the Sorbonne - small streets in the artist's quarter (Latin quarter).

Plan for Tuesday then is for me to explore the Montmatre area and the Sacre Couer and spend the evening packing my bag.

Wednesday will be off traveling again.